Double Team
by fusionbolt15
Summary: Jed and Ted are twin Grunts in Team Rocket. Their lives have been pretty much normal up until now, until a chance meeting turns their world upside down. With a pesky trainer trying to take down the organisation and become top of the Pokemon League, the twins are forced to intervene to prevent them from doing so. But of course, things don't always go to plan...


*Disappears for two years and then returns from the void* _Hello, it's me._

 **A/N: I deleted my previous fanfic because I just lost the motivation and idea to finish it, plus being a university student means I am VERY busy!** **Thankfully during my spare time I came up with a less angsty plot and some new** **un** **original characters that I thought would be fun to write, as I'm currently suffering from writer's block for a novel piece and… eh…**

 **Anyhoo, I plan to update this somewhat regularly, time permitting. So enjoy! Reviews are much appreciated! (And constructive criticism welcome!)**

Team Rocket HQ. A rather weary-looking grunt lay sprawled across the sofa, hands placed comfortably behind his head as he watched the TV screen flicker with brightly coloured images. It had been a rather slow day and the work had taken its toll, so he'd taken the evening to relax and recover some energy for the next day. His twin was sitting on the floor below him, legs crossed as he frantically pushed and tapped the buttons on a video game controller. RPGs never were his thing; he wondered why his brother even bothered with them.

"Dangit!" The grunt yelled in frustration as he threw the controller down onto the floor. "Why do they always make these games so difficult?"

"Maybe you just suck, Ted." The first grunt replied somewhat nonchalantly, closing his eyes as he did so.

"Thanks for the reassurance, _bro_." The green-haired Rocketeer paused the game and stood up slowly, giving his arms and legs a stretch after having been sitting down for so long. He turned to look at his brother who looked ready to fall asleep at any moment, dropping his arms by his sides and giving a rather unimpressed look.

"Jed, you should probably get to bed. Ya look whacked."

"Mm. Probably."

"I'm serious! We have a busy day tomorrow and we can't afford to screw up any more missions!"

There was a moment of silence before Jed let out a sigh and pushed himself up off the sofa. His brother was right, although he didn't want to admit it.

"Alright fine. But ya gotta promise you won't stay up late. You gotta sleep an' all y'know."

"I know, I know! Geez, I am the same age as you, Jed. I can look after myself."

"Oh really?" He arched an eyebrow quizzically.

"Yeah, really."

"If you say so. Just remember to set your alarm in case mine doesn't go off."

"Heh, already one step ahead of you bro." He held up his phone to make his point, although the other wasn't really paying much attention.

"Good. Like ya said, we can't afford to make any mistakes otherwise—" He paused for a moment. "Who knows what kinda trouble we'll be in."

"Guess we'd better prepare for it."

Trying his hardest not to scold him for the blatant reference to some other folk, the Rocket member bid his brother farewell for the evening and took a moment to head for the bathroom. It was a bit of a squeeze considering how small their apartment was, but it wasn't the worse it could have been.

Running his hands through his hair, Jed frowned as he studied his reflection in the mirror. The neon-pink dye was beginning to wash out again, causing his natural brown roots to peek through. It didn't do much justice for his pale skin either. As much as he loved his twin, sometimes he wished that they hadn't been born identical so they could at least keep their natural hair and eye colour. Either that or the rest of Team Rocket learned to tell the two of them apart.

The man took some time to ponder things for a moment as he brushed his teeth, running various scenarios through his head as to what could be the potential outcome for tomorrow. It was nothing particularly difficult, but it would require a great amount of stealth and concentration. After all, sneaking around areas full of pesky trainers and old hikers wasn't the easiest thing in the world when you had a blazing red 'R' embedded on your chest. Who even designed those things anyway?

Finishing up, Jed wiped his face before trudging over to the bedroom to get changed into his standard pair of black pajamas. It wasn't to say that Rocket Grunts didn't wear anything other than black, he just simply preferred the colour to most other shades. This was all followed by a lazy clambering into the bed (which he cursed for being so uncomfortable) and a hefty sigh, gently closing his eyes in the hopes that he would get a good night's rest.

 _BZZZT. BZZZZZTT. BZZZZZTTTT._

The phone alarm buzzed harshly on the bedside table, giving a rather rude awakening to the two grunts that lay half asleep in their beds. Ted's alarm shortly followed with a subtle but lighthearted melody, one that allowed him to wake up with a smile on his face. It was practically impossible to tell what time of day it was without looking at the clock; what with their apartment being underground there were air vents in place of windows. Not that it bothered them too much after several years, however they were slightly concerned about the possible lack of Vitamin D.

With a joyful countenance, Ted arose from his slumber and promptly stopped the alarm, giving himself a few seconds to complete his usual morning stretches. He would have been lying if he said he wasn't nervous about the day ahead, but his excitement was enough to keep him determined.

"Morning, brother!" He almost sang as he looked over at his twin, who was now lying face down with his pillow atop his head. Despite their many shared traits, being a morning person wasn't one of them.

Without so much as a glance, Jed grasped at the tableside in a lazy but somewhat fierce attempt to stop the buzzing that had now been grating his ears for over a minute. Unfortunately for him he caught the edge of the device and caused it to fall clumsily onto the floor, leaving its battery to depart from the device.

"Oh. Well, it worked at least." The green-haired grunt responded as he witnessed the rather pathetic situation in front of him. "Hey Jed, ya gotta wake up! You don't wanna be late for roll call, do you?"

The other man simply groaned in response, finally making the decision to turn over and clutch the pillow to his chest _. "You sound like a hyperactive school girl, Ted."_ He would have said that out loud had he been bothered to. "What's the time?"

"Six-thirty AM."

"Disgusting. I swear we're not getting paid enough to do this job."

"Oh stop being a grumpy grump. Today's gonna be fun! It's the biggest task we've had in five weeks!"

"Oh boy. Exciting." His comment was dripping with sarcasm.

Ignoring his brother's response, Ted opened the door and began making his way down the corridor, continuing the conversation as he walked. "Well there are people and Pokémon waitin' to be fed in this house! So I suggest you get a move on!"

"Yeah. I'll do that."

It was nice to see the kitchen tidy for once; Jed thought as he hauled a large bag of Pokémon food from the cupboard and poured it into the plastic bowl beneath him. He had overfilled it by a vast amount, causing the little blocks to scatter everywhere. It didn't matter though, his team always managed to eat every bite somehow.

The Rocketeer took each of the five Pokeballs into his hands and simultaneously released the creatures inside. The red beams of light faded to reveal a Minun, Rattata, Nidoran , Nincada and Eevee respectively.

"Alright guys, I want y'all to eat as much as ya can! We've got a big day ahead of us and you're gonna need to keep your energy up."

The Pokémon each made a noise of agreement and happily tucked in to the meal that was set before them. Did Jed view them as tools to be used by the organisation? Sure. But that didn't mean he didn't treat his own Pokémon with love and respect- secretly, of course. So did Ted, but it was a secret they shared between each other. In the meantime he prepared himself a rather hastily made breakfast of toast and black coffee, not being one to put much time and effort into cooking.

The rest of that morning was a rush to get going and be ready for rollcall in the training hall. Naturally, being twins they were often partnered together for bigger missions such as this, however Ted had a fear of caves for personal reasons that would probably render their partnership useless for their current task. If he was lucky he would get paired with his best friend and fellow grunt Sandra, but that was certainly wishful thinking.

As they entered, they found themselves passing by a large group of Rocket members who patiently stood in rows, each partner side-by-side. It was the usual drill: have their attendance checked and listen to the mission briefing. The atmosphere almost like a military set-up with its deadly silence, the only sound coming from the occasional squeak of shoes scuffing against the polished wooden floor.

Once the twins had taken their place in the front row, they were greeted by the hall doors bursting open suddenly as the Executive strode through confidently, clipboard in hand. The sound of his boots thudded against the ground, giving off a rather intimidating vibe. He made his way to the front of the hall, lining himself up with the middle of the rows so that his voice could be heard clearly.

"Alright, let's not waste any time here, we have a busy schedule ahead of us!" Proton's voice echoed throughout the hall as he unhooked the pen from the clipboard and sharply clicked it. No one dared say anything unless spoken to- those were the rules and they had been drilled into them many a time.

The rollcall had begun and finished much sooner than the twins had imagined, despite the number of grunts that the admin oversaw. They knew some details about their task, but for most it was a mixture of anxious waiting as they theorised about what it could be.

Adjusting his hat with a tug, Proton lowered the clipboard down to his side and began pacing back and forth as he explained. "Listen up. I need every single one of you on patrol in Azelea Town, Slowpoke Well and near the Ruins of Alph. I'll be heading down the well and overseeing the whole operation; in the meantime I'll need a group of you to accompany me to see that the work gets done. And obviously, to make sure that our plan isn't interrupted."

A pause.

"I hope none of you are squeamish because for the most part, we'll be collecting Slowpoke Tails." He stopped to glance quickly at the floor in disappointment. "I hate to admit it, but Team Rocket is running low on cash and these things go for thousands on the black market. Our goal is to obtain at least fifty by the end of the day, so you'd better work quickly."

"Slowpoke tails?" Ted whispered to his brother under his breath. "I thought no one bought those things anymore?"

There was a slight murmur amongst the group before Proton continued. "It's simple enough. Those who aren't coming with me are expected to gain as much information as possible about the Ruins and take as much as you can from the surrounding area. If you need to steal then steal, I don't care as long as you bring something useful back with you." He paused for effect, jaded eyes scanning over them. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" The grunts raised their voices together in unison, offering a quick salute out of respect before awaiting their next instruction.

"Good. I've put a list of names up by the door which will allocate your places. Now get moving!"

There was a hum of chatter as each Rocket member rushed over to take a look at the list, noting their designated spots before rushing out the doors in a flurry. The brothers began to follow suit when they were stopped in their tracks by the Executive's voice behind them.

"Jed, Ted. Stay here a moment. I need you for something."

The two exchanged a brief and worrying look before they turned around to make eye contact with their superior. For all they knew the outcome was either terribly good, or horrendously bad.

"Is- Is everything okay, sir?" Jed questioned anxiously as he tried to steady his voice.

"Yeah. I have an important job for you both." The Rocket shifted his gaze to meet theirs as he placed the pen back onto the clipboard. "I need you to guard outside the well. Make sure no one goes in _or_ out without my permission."

The grunts blinked for a moment as they both tried to process the command. They couldn't quite comprehend why either of them had been picked solely for this task. Not feeling easy about asking questions, Jed cleared his throat and gripped his upper arm to calm his nerves.

"Um, I hope you don't me askin' sir but does it really take two of us to take care of the job? I mean, I'm not sayin' it's a bad idea, it just might be better if— "

"Are you questioning my methods, Jed?" The Executive shot a quick glare following the question.

"N-No sir! It was just a mere suggestion, is all." He hoped that was an easy escape.

There was a tense and awkward silence between the three before Proton eventually sighed and folded his arms over his chest. "You're right. I suppose there could be something else useful that you could be doing in the meantime. Ted, you can be back-up if your brother here gets in trouble. Just scout the area and keep an eye out for any trainers or dangerous Pokémon, got it?"

"Understood!" Ted replied a little too enthusiastically.

A small smirk appeared on the Executive's face as he slowly made his way past them, heading for the doorway before turning around to face them one last time. "I trust you won't let me down. Meet me in Azalea in forty-five minutes sharp."

The twins nodded and made a small but profound bow, leaving their boss to exit the hall. It was so perfectly synchronised that anyone who was watching would have probably found it a little disturbing, if they had no knowledge of their identical mannerisms.

Ted spoke up first. "Hoo boy. Azelea Town huh? Haven't been there in a while. I wonder if they have any good snacks going…"

Jed rolled his eyes. "Geez, you and food. I for one wanna get this over with before my stomach starts rumblin' because you mentioned it."

"Hey, that's not my fault. You were the one who didn't eat a proper breakfast this morning- and coffee without sugar, might I add."

"Alright alright, you made ya point. We should grab some supplies before we head off."

The other nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me bro! I'm psyched for this."

"Please never use that word again in my presence."

With that said, the two grunts left to prepare for their mission, fully confident that they would be able to pull it off. It's not like anything could possibly go wrong…

… _ **right?**_


End file.
